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Interesting development: In the previous Dr Who News (3) thread, I read that Doctor Who was being dropped by Netflix on Feb. 1. However, I just took a look, and at least with Netflix Canada it is still there. Maybe this is something we will actually have that Netflix U.S. doesn’t? That’s rare. Our Netflix lineup is far less substantial than the U.S. one.

@nerys — RE. Netflix. I think I posted a week back an article on the RT about how Who’s presence on Netflix UK is up for renewal in April, with the speculation being that it’ll be pulled from there too. It’s all down to contracts and renewal dates but the chances are that it’ll be pulled from Canada too at the earliest opportunity. I think the Beeb is looking for everything to go through their new online store eventually…

RE. fantasy casting. I’m afraid you’re never going to stop it. It’s just a rampant interwebs past-time and it’s not helped by actors and their agents jumping on a bit of free publicity by insinuating that they might be in line for the part.

However, as it’s now been more or less confirmed that Steven Moffat will be in the hot seat until the 2017 Christmas special, then that means a casting decision is really quite far away, more than a year at least, so hopefully it’ll die down again.

And that’s assuming Capaldi’s going. It’s unusual for a new showrunner to inherit a Doctor but by no means a definite. Chibnall might feel that he can still get some mileage out of Capaldi and that would take the added strain of a regeneration story etc from him. And frankly, by the time both Smith and Tennant went, I did feel that their Doctor(s) had run their course. I don’t feel that with Capaldi’s Doc yet. I think his journey has got a bit more to go (although whether I’ll feel the same by the end of s10 is another matter). Maybe CC feels the same.

@nerys Yes, I imagine that the contract runs out at some future date and then we will lose it as well. I hope it will continue to be available on iTunes or I will really be in trouble. I find the current attempts by certain parties to hang on to the 20th century pretty frustrating. Personally, I have embraced streaming and digital downloads as a way to keep from finally being crushed under the weight of my stuff (I live in a pretty small house). We still buy physical copies of films from time to time, but I will not buy DVD sets of TV series as I just wouldn’t have room for everything I might want to watch.

We had some angst in the house yesterday on realizing that the Canadian network carrying the Superbowl was only allowing internet streaming if you were a cable subscriber. Not sure what the point was, as if I had cable I wouldn’t need to stream the game, would I? There was no way to watch it in Canada without cable, unless we had set up vpn ahead of time, which we hadn’t done as we didn’t realize that Arbutus Jr. still wanted to watch (despite the presence of either Patriots or Seahawks in the game this year! 🙂 ). So we spent a fair bit of time fuming about the stupidity of cable companies that refuse to accept the new reality, and networks too stupid to realize that it doesn’t matter to them how people watch their broadcasts as long as they do.

It is a source to total bafflement to me that the likes of HBO and Showtime are yet to grasp that they have a global audience and need to start cutting the middlemen out of their non-US operations. I shall continue to cheerfully bootleg their stuff until they stop requiring me to give money to Rupert Murdoch and his mutant spawn to see it. But I will happily pay a subscription directly to them.

It is possible that Apple has stumbled upon the answer in app-based boxes. But licensing still needs sorting out. HBO has an app in the US but nowhere else, because they keep selling individual shows to local partners. The content makers need to learn for Netlfix and Amazon and cut out the middlemen.

It’s a disappointment that we will only be getting a Christmas episode this year and won’t get a full season until 2017 but this might be what the show needs. A break now and than can do wonders for the writing staff and now people will be waiting for Doctor Who and ratings will rise. I just hope Peter doesn’t leave in the next season.

Torchwood is returning as a second series of radio dramas publish by Big Finish. The first one will air in March this year! I won’t say much about who is in the radio plays for those who don’t like spoilers but we all know that Captain Jack will be in at least one of them. Six audio plays will air, one for each month till August so keep listening.

@Missy- much as I love him- I think I saw him driving down Kings Street in Hammersmith once, but it might just have been a broad, bearded man glaring out through the windscreen and my brain did the rest- a big no. If you were to have an actor of that generation- and I think Capaldi is about at the top of the feasible age range, I’d prefer Timothy West.

@missy I’m not sure if Brian Blessed should play The Doctor. I haven’t seen any of his work so I can’t say anything about his acting ability but I do know if you want to play The Doctor you talk to the BBC and don’t announce it to the world. The next Doctor should always be a secret. However if he dose become The Doctor I will give him a chance just like I did with all the other Doctors. I just know I’m going to miss The 12th Doctor so much when he leaves.

Class? Wish they had come up with a Doctor Who spin-off for fans, families or created something smart, funny and whimsical, like a Vastra, Jenny, Strax with Captain Jack spin-off. Why not a spin-off characters from the verse? Why not an educational and whimsical journey with the 8th Doctor? How about a fun period adventure/mystery/cerebral show with Amy and Rory in the crazy London thirties? People would be over the moon for any of the above ideas, and instead we get another sexy, dark “shocker show” for teens.

Let’s face it, nothing shocks teens today, they’re overexposed and over it. Really, aren’t a lot of us bored of it? That’s all there is for teens to watch already, or the ever dumb Disney shows as the one alternative. Give them something fun, whimsical, smart and adventurous – name one show for teens that has THAT formula? I expected something different from the makers of Doctor Who. The reason Doctor Who, Sherlock, Downton Abbey and Big Bang Theory are so beloved is because they are original, smart, fun and brilliantly casted and written, we care about the characters and we see the universal truths in these original shows. Ness may be a brilliant writer, but he may not be able to overcome poor casting, teen formula sex and unoriginal style. It looks like we are getting 90210 Misfits. :-\

<span style=”line-height: 1.5;”>Has anyone noticed that the cast looks thirty and the clothes look eighties? Appreciate that the Doctor Who franchise went with some normal looking and less gorgeous casting for once, but it does look like a very flat and “formula” choice; the “diversity formula” which is always predictable and anything but truly diverse, more PC than diverse. Hope BBC doesn’t make the characters formula teens on top of it.</span>

As I haven’t seen Class, I can’t comment. Also, as I didn’t like Big bang theory (neither I or my OH did) thought it was daft! Doenton Abbey was good intil series 4, then – in my opinion – it went down hill.

The members of the cast who look in their thirties are playing the teachers. The ‘sixth formers’ are adults with a younger playing age, but they’re all actors in their early twenties.

And as for ‘diversity formula’ – I know the area that the fictional Coal Hill School is set in very well. It’s a mix of ethnicities and class – a formerly working class area that then had a huge influx of artists move in (it was cheap). I wouldn’t be shocked to walk into a sixth form class in the ‘Coal Hill’ equivalent and see that group in it.

They’ve already done two Doctor Who spin-offs – why complain because they’re trying something different (no continuing characters, only a continuing location) for the third?

@kharis@bluesqueakpip@missy
I do agree with @kharis that Class doesn’t really appeal to me and that there could have been better options but I’m not going to not give it a chance and I shall wait and see if it surprises me as I have often been surprised by other programmes!

I am still glad that they are at least trying to get more teens interested in the show and it also shows that the bbc are willing to try dr who spinoff shows and who knows if Class is a success then we may get another spinoff show (that may be wishful thinking!)

@kharis@bluesqueakpip@missy@thedentistofdavros I like to check out all the Doctor Who spin-offs or specials of any kind. and I have enjoyed quite a few. The Sarah Jane Adventures was quite good even if it was made for a younger group. Torchwood was not really my thing but I have watched a lot of it and some of it was really gritty and scary and good. So I will wait and see about Class but I expect I will watch it and like it because it is the Whoniverse and I like to live there now and then. I can’t wait a whole year for some Who.

I am also excited by the casting of Katherine Kelly as I like the actress and I would be disappointed if the class wasn’t a diverse group as most classrooms are.

I agree that it is far too early to make judgements regarding Class. I am also looking forward to it. Given that S.M is exec producer I expect it will not be anything like either Sarah Jane Adventures or Torchwood both of which were produced by RTD. If it were though I would prefer it leaned towards the former rather than the later.

AS for the question of diversity, while not being familiar with the Coal Hill school area I always thought London in general was a huge cultural melting pot or a portal through which all the peoples of the world flowed, depending on the day. It has long been that way too. It is remarkable how many historical figures who were not English found their way to London. Voltaire, Franklin, Marx of course, Lenin, ,..

I will give it a chance of course, just was disappointed over the choices and was venting.

I HOPE it is great, and of course I can’t judge if it’s good or not yet, no one can, that would be silly, just venting over the choices. I know I probably shouldn’t of, I knew darn well I was going to get a cacophony of people complaining I can’t judge it until I had seen it, etc. and I even tried to edit my comment and basically delete everything since I already knew the responses, but I couldn’t, guess it was past time to be allowed for deletion.

Just to clarify, I’m always glad to see diversity, but what I meant about a “diversity formula” is difficult to explain without people misunderstanding. I’ll try, but I may just be confusing people more on what I really mean. I teach High School and rarely do I have a class so homogeneous as the press photo of Class. How about a young man in High School who still looks young? Happens all the time since at least half the boys don’t go through full puberty until Junior or Senior year. How about an overweight girl? How about a transgender teen? How about an unattractive girl or boy? How about a kid in a wheelchair? What I mean by diversity formula is: one good looking thin Caucasian girl, one good looking thin Caucasian boy, one darker skinned good looking thin boy or girl, one medium skinned toned thin good looking boy or girl, and they all should be medium height or taller. In the States this “diverse” group is as predictable as rain in entertainment. Skin tone does not equal diversity to me, it’s a silly formula in my opinion and there is nothing diverse about it. I see it as actors playing teens who are all “thin good looking people of average to tall height in their late twenties with varying amounts of melanin who all hit puberty early.” Like I said, hard to explain, and I doubt I actually clarified. I’m terrible at writing my thoughts. Don’t really even know why I’m trying or why I’m being so blunt. It’s tax day here, so probably just stress clouding my head.

I get that you teach High School, and you’ve explained your reasons for thinking this is ‘diversity casting’ – but you don’t teach in Shoreditch in London. As I say, I know the area well, and I kept an eye on the casting of the extras when they had Clara’s school scenes. Somebody has done their research – and reflected the ethnic mix reasonably accurately. 50% of the people in the area are white – 50% of the kids are white. 25% of the people in the area are black (various nationalities) – one of the kids is black. The rest of the people in the area are what you describe as ‘medium skin toned’ – check.

Sorry if it seems like diversity casting, but that is reality in Shoreditch.

Weight, age and attractiveness: these are young actors; they’ve been accepted into drama school and have previous TV experience. ‘Don’t put on weight’ will have been drilled into them. They certainly look easy on the eye, but they also look like what’s called ‘young leading actors’ rather than ‘character actors’.

That is, the casting director has gone for safe casting. They want the show to be successful and they’ve gone for a strong cast, well trained, with regular TV roles already on their CV. That means they almost have to go for early to mid-twenties – few real teenagers will have the experience. Equally, it’s generally the prettier drama school graduates who are likely to have good TV experience – while still young enough to look possibly teenaged.

If Class is a success, I expect we’ll get more normal looking and younger actors coming through as they swap the young leads. If they’ve got a big enough budget for supporting characters, some of them may be younger and more ‘character’ (i.e. normal looking).

As for gay or transgender: we don’t know yet whether any of the characters are gay or transgender. I do believe someone is an alien. This is, after all, a Doctor Who spinoff. 😉